The first Excellence Award for Innovative Solutions goes to a man who is pushing the envelope of optical systems. His name is R. Hamilton Shepard, and he is a member of the technical staff in the Optical Engineering Group at Lincoln Laboratory. In his role at Lincoln Laboratory, Hamilton is the go-to guy for innovative optical designs.

He creates novel solutions for projects great and small while collaborating across a variety of groups and divisions. One of his colleagues said, “Hamilton has worked tirelessly in stretching our understanding and use of optics in sensor systems and expanding optical capabilities. Above and beyond bringing his unique perspective to the standard suite of programs he is supporting, he has won two line-funded programs, filed for two patents, and written at least two papers—just in the last year alone.”

Hamilton has reached out to people across the laboratory to solve complex problems for various applications and is mentoring others who can expand this knowledge. Another colleague observed, “Hamilton always brings a boundless enthusiasm to problems—an approach that makes him very easy to collaborate with. It’s this ability that makes it possible for him to transform his innovative ideas into real-world solutions.”